Tag: Florida

“Let me begin by thanking God for Katherine Harris,” wrote Jim Hightower on Pulse of the Twin Cities. “She is such a picture-perfect example of ultra-right-wing looniness, theocratic hubris, raw Republican partisanship and big-money political corruption that she serves as a sort of burning bush, warning us never to let such people gain high office.”

“I have never heard of a candidate taking money out of a campaign coffer like it’s an ATM. It absolutely boggles my mind,” said former Harris campaign manager Jim Dornan. “This is a woman who has completely lost touch with reality. You don’t take your campaign contributors’ money, whether it’s yours or not, and spend it to renovate your house. This is absolutely insane.”

Underqualified and underwhelming: Charlie Crist and Jim Davis may not be the most flamboyant candidates for Florida’s governor — okay, they aren’t even mildly interesting — but until today I didn’t know how totally unprepared they are to govern our state. Their financials were published today, and what they reveal about these guys is disturbing.

They’re both losers, at least by most financial measures. Maybe that’s why they’re running for a job that pays $132,000 a year with free room and board at the guv’s mansion in Tallahassee.

Crist, 50, has never bought a house. He’s a renter. He’s never run a business. He’s divorced with no kids and until five years ago never held a job that paid more than about $40,000 a year. He has a net worth of $423,000, including about $185,000 for retirement, $97,000 in an investment account and $16,000 in cash. He gave $1,000 to charities last year, most of it to his church. He keeps his investments in a Fidelity Fund to avoid any conflicts of interest. His 74-year-old father is his financial advisor, and Crist earns about 5 percent per year on his investments.

There has been some speculation on this Web site in the past regarding whether Crist is gay. According to the article I read, he supposedly has a girlfriend with whom he vacations occasionally. Sure, okay, I’ll buy that. But then when one finds out what he drives, one starts to wonder all over again: a 1997 Jaguar XK8 convertible, bought used, and a leased yellow 2006 Mustang convertible. Hmmmmm.

Davis, 48, is the bigger loser, however. He supports a wife and two teenage sons on his $159,000 congressional salary, so he would actually take a pay cut to be governor, though I guess he’d make it up in food and housing costs. His net worth is $405,000. The family’s major asset is their home, which was purchased in 1989 for $152,500 and is now assessed at $421,871 because of rising property values. There is a $63,000 mortgage.

Davis paid $26,920 in income taxes and declared he had given $4,170 to charity last year. He owns no stocks or bonds, and has not enrolled his sons — in 1oth and ninth grade — in Florida’s prepaid college program, so he hasn’t saved anything for their education. Davis drives a three-year-old Ford Taurus and sleeps in the spare bedroom of his sister’s Georgetown home when the House is in session.

These guys do share one thing in common — they’re basically career politicians who have few, if any, accomplishments outside their political work, and virtually none in their careers. Neither has ever run a business or managed a complex land transaction. At least Jeb Bush was a millionaire developer before he won the governorship. Not that that’s such a good thing, but at least the guy had some experience managing people and swinging real estate deals.

Other examples of governors with little or no practical governing experience — fake wrestler Jesse Ventura and muscle-bound action figure Arnold Schwarzenegger come to mind. And look what those guys have done for for Minnesota and California, respectively.

Gone are the days of Lawton “He-Coon” Chiles, a man of conviction who really cared about Florida and its people, and who actually governed the state pretty well, even as it slid toward a Republican majority. Now, the choice is between a couple of empty-suit politicos with crappy taste in automobiles.

Oh well, throw a dart and let’s get on with the election.

Florida Republican Senate candidate Katherine Harris, who has a gay person on her staff, is attacking Sen. Bill Nelson, her Democratic opponent because he does not oppose gay marriage enough:

Republican Senate hopeful Katherine Harris says Florida’s Democratic incumbent supports unchristian political policies.

Harris – whose comments were made on a Christian radio network and published Monday by Agape Press, a Christian news service – did not mention specific policies, but she has repeatedly berated Sen. Bill Nelson for not supporting a ban on certain late-term abortions and a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

The congresswoman has worked to attract Christian voters throughout her campaign. This summer, Harris told the Florida Baptist Witness newsletter that Christians should be involved in politics because otherwise legislative bodies would “legislate sin,” and that the separation of church and state is “a lie we have been told.” The comments caused a stir among Democrats and many Republicans, as well as some Christians.

In an effort to explain those remarks, Harris told American Family Radio News: “I was being specific in talking to them and differentiating myself from Bill Nelson, who claims to be a Christian and yet votes completely contrary to what we say we believe.”

…Nelson has said he voted against the ban on what conservatives call partial-birth abortion because the legislation did not have an exception for the health of the mother.

Nelson has also said that he is personally opposed to gay marriage, but that it is an issue that should be decided by individual states.